Paid to Play Episode 2: The one where the author goes on a training trip called the Volcano Trail from San Jose Costa Rica to Antigua Guatemala and learns how to be a Tour Leader as well as other various aspects of getting paid to play. And so it begins. To learn to be a tour leader I will have two training trips by following an experienced guide. In the end, I will finish in Playa del Carmen Mexico. Shortly after that, I will get my very own group of adventure ...

The black sand beaches of Monterrico are unlike anything I've seen before. The sand is black since it's volcanic rock and the town sits out away from the mainland a short distance. To get here, we had to take water taxis through narrow channels of mangroves. This is Guatemala's most popular beach but only really comes alive during the weekends. Unfortunately for me, some salad I ate with my lunch came back to haunt me all night Saturday. However, I didn't go down...

Last Monday, I left Huehuetenango and chicken bussed it to Todos Santos ... a small indigenous village in the Cuchumatanes Mountains, the highest in central America. The road to get here ascends 1000m (3300 ft) up a windy scenic road before plunging into the valley on the other side where Todos Santos sits surrounded by huge mountain peaks. Although it´s only about a 25 mile trip, it took 2 1/2 hours! The road is rough, the views are amazing, and once I got ...

Today I said adios to my homestay family and jumped on a chicken bus headed for Huehuetenango ... or just Huehue(way-way) as the locals call it. The ride up to Huehue was rather unexciting but when I got there, the electricity was out. This wasn´t much of a problem til the sun went down as there was absolutely nothing to do on a Sunday evening here without electricy. There´s nothing to do here with the electricy either for that matter. Tomorrow, I am of...

Well, I finished my last day of spanish school today and as you can probably imagine, after all the hard work and stress, I need a vacation. Tomorrow I´m going to go relax in some natural volcanic saunas and hot springs and Sunday I´m going to get back on the road and start living out of my backpack again. My spanish is OK and the best way to keep learning now is to practice and actually use it. This, however, requires accepting the fact that major mist...